Silbermann J. Th.
Contenu
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Nom
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Silbermann J. Th.
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Date de naissance
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December 1805
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Date de mort
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4 July 1865
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Couverture temporelle
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mid-19th century
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Biographie
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The son of an artillery captain, after having studied at the University of Strasbourg, Silbermann moved to Paris where he apprenticed himself to Jecker. At the same time he followed courses at the Société des Sciences where he came to the notice of Pouillet who employed him as a general assistant for the preparation of his physics course (eg that given at the Collège Bourbon), and consigned to him the preparation of the plates for his Traité de physique. In 1829 Silbermann took up employment with the Ponts & Chaussées working on the embanking of the Rhine and drawing the map of the course of the river between Basle and Strasbourg. In 1835 he returned to Paris to work once again with Pouillet both at the Paris Faculté des Sciences and at the Conservatoire des Arts & Métiers. In 1843 he was appointed Curator of the collections in the latter establishment, post which he retained until his death.
It was during the second period, of 13 years, that Silbermann worked with Pouillet that belong most of his original contributions to science. A pioneer explorer of the process of galvano-plastie, he also worked (1838) on the condensation of gases on solid surfaces, researches which he would later develope and publish with Favre. It was at the same period that he had a Melloni bench made by Ruhmkorf (qv), and an optical bench for demonstrating diffraction and interference made by Soleil for the courses given in the Conservatoire. He was also the first to project onto a screen the phenomena of polarisation thanks to the invention for which he is best known that of the form of heliostat which he devised and showed to the Académie des Sciences on 27 February 1843.His design combined the virtues of practicability and cheapness compared with other heliostats then available such as those of Charles and Arago. It was also durng this period that he invented his 'focomètre' for finding the exact focal point of lenses and developed such diverse instruments as the cathetometer, the sympiezometer, the gas pyrometer, the dilatometer, and invented an apparatus for indicating the speed of electricity. His interest in the problems of dilatation led to the development of a 'comparator à touches and a beam compass for the Dépôt des Prototypes at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, and assisted at the 1864 comparison of standard measures.1 At the end of his life this work on measures led him to investigate human measurements and the origin of linear measures.
Of an extreme modesty Silbermann according to one obituarist, was helpful to all asked and much exploited. 'Le service rendu, il n'y pensait plus; l'obligé en profitait le plus souvent pour oublier de son côté. Aussi, est-ce sans exaggération qu'on pu dire au lendemain de sa mort: "Silbermann a contribué sans gloire à plus d'une découverte" (Cosmos 12 juillet 1865)'. In consequence Silbermann's circumstances remained exiguous throughout his life.2
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Notes biographiques
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1 Bigourdan 236-7
2 J. Nicklès, 'Notice biographique sur J.-Th. Silbermann', Annales du Génie iv 1865, 785-7.
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Identifiant
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3012
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ark:/18469/1tptq